


we deserve a soft epilogue, my love

by serenex



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Fluff, Marriage of Convenience, Multi, Post-Blue Lions Route (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Trans Female Byleth, Weddings, too many pairings to name dear jesus god
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-03
Updated: 2020-03-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:53:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22997995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serenex/pseuds/serenex
Summary: "As children flood the streets after so many deaths, the air is filled with joy. This is the rebirth of a nation."--With the war over, it is finally time for love to bloom. Love blooms in different ways for different people, at different times and at different paces, but they are all, in the end, very, very happy.
Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic/Dedue Molinaro, Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert/Ingrid Brandl Galatea (implied), Caspar von Bergliez/Linhardt von Hevring, Cyril/Lysithea von Ordelia, Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd & Ingrid Brandl Galatea, Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Felix Hugo Fraldarius, Dorothea Arnault/Petra Macneary, Felix Hugo Fraldarius/Sylvain Jose Gautier (dubiously unrequited), Ferdinand von Aegir/Bernadetta von Varley (mentioned), Flayn/Ignatz Victor, Lorenz Hellman Gloucester/Mercedes von Martritz, Manuela Casagranda/Hanneman von Essar, Marianne von Edmund/Hilda Valentine Goneril, Raphael Kirsten & Lysithea von Ordelia (mentioned), Sylvain Jose Gautier/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 5
Kudos: 38





	we deserve a soft epilogue, my love

**Author's Note:**

> me, crying as i type this up at 11 pm: i can't keep doing this to myself.
> 
> ANYWAY. i love the blue lions so much.

The war is over, and the battle against injustice has been won. King Dimitri has taken the throne, and like all the kings before him, he swears a solemn oath to uphold the just system that the gods have put into place. Behind closed doors, he informs his archbishop about his plans to correct it and make it better than it was before, and Byleth assures him that it’s the right thing to do. Although his confrontation with Edelgard had ended with nothing but tragedy and bitterness, there had been some truth to her criticism of Rhea’s rule. It was blind worship, and censored writings and carefully aimed speeches, wrapping cloth after cloth over the eyes of her followers. Dimitri had no interest in disowning the gods and the religion that had given the followers of Seiros hope entirely, but he recognizes that some power must be returned to the people. No more of the strong trampling the weak. No more lies, no more determining worth based on crests. The archbishop will make sure he keeps his word.

It is hard to return to normality, after a war so large that had raged for so many years, but, to the relief of everyone, battle-stained soldiers start to fall into their roles in life and learn to be happy again. They start businesses, create art, and start families. As children flood the streets after so many deaths, the air is filled with joy. This is the rebirth of a nation.

* *

The first couple to get married is, to the surprise of few, Dedue and Annette. The couple was always one for casual PDA, with Annette swooping into the kitchen to kiss her boyfriend on the cheek as he cooked. The effect was only slightly ruined by the fact that Annette had to get on a stool or be lifted to pull off the move, but Dedue always flushed a pleasant shade of red when she visited and did that. He was not the type for sappy words, but his expressions and actions said a thousand words. They had a very quiet ceremony, attended only by their fellow classmates and their beloved Byleth. The normally stoic teacher actually shed a few tears, much to the surprise and distress of Dimitri, who must be assured that all is well.

A year after the war ends, Petra and Dorothea fly off to Brigid, where they are warmly welcomed by Petra’s people. When they fall in love, Dorothea writes hundreds of gushing letters about her lover to her closest friends. Ferdinand is thrilled to hear from her now that they’ve become close, and he writes back similar letters about his new wife. 

Bernadetta was especially happy now that she was separated from her father and married to someone who would make sure to keep her safe and comfortable always.  _ My dearest Dorothea,  _ Ferdinand writes,  _ you will not believe what amount of joy it brought me to see Count Varley’s face change from ecstasy at our engagement to horror at our cutting him off. He does not deserve to even be near my gorgeous little flower, and I think that his shock will have to be enough until I feel as though he’s ready to be beaten down to the ground. _

* *

Sylvain proposes to Byleth when he is 27 and she is 29. She turns him down. “It isn’t as if I dislike you or think you are unattractive,” she tells the crushed man, “But you have been my student for so long that I’m afraid you may not know how to look at me as Byleth, and not your beloved teacher.”

“C’mon, professor, I-” He looks stricken. “...I guess you’re right. Goddess, what a fool I must look like right now. You’re the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen, and I would love nothing more than to marry you....but I guess neither of us are emotionally ready for that right now, huh?” Sylvain kicks at the dirt, and Byleth simply stares at him. 

The mint haired woman shakes her head. “No, I suppose not. Let’s give it a few more years, maybe. We can start over. Like this. Hello, my name is Byleth. I fish.” She holds out her hand for him to shake.

Sylvain is so caught off guard that he laughs, the despair falling from his face. He accepts the handshake. “Yeah! Yeah, okay. I am Margrave Sylvain Jose Gautier. Your name is lovely, you know.”

She raises an eyebrow at him. “Thank you. I chose it myself.”

“Ah, so you saw its beauty for yourself! It fits your face, you know. Say, how would you feel about tea? Just as friends.” His wise, warm eyes dig into her pleadingly. 

“I can never say no to tea,” she tells him, amusement twinkling in her eyes.

* *

Manuela and Hanneman marry in a way that is very fitting of them. Hanneman shows up to the venue a couple hours much too early out of his excitement, and Manuela shows up a few hours late, her dress a mess. They squabble at the altar, and then spend so long at the I Do kiss that the priest himself, Seteth, has to excuse himself and leave the area.

Mercedes and Lorenz, on the other hand, have the most gorgeous, jaw-dropping wedding of all time, with a strawberry layer cake baked by Mercedes herself, white banners and doves scattered everywhere, and glitter that takes forever to clean up. After the wedding, Lorenz laments over how Mercedes didn’t look like she enjoyed it as much as he hoped she would. “I did enjoy it,” she tells him, ever so softly. “....But the best part wasn’t the extravagance. It was being with you.” As she plants a kiss on his cheek, Lorenz goes very red and almost short circuits.

Linhardt and Caspar don’t have a wedding. They are married, legally, but Linhardt falls asleep through the practice vows, so the two find a way to skip all of it. They are seen leaving on horses with “just married” banners draped over them. Caspar’s horse eats his within the first two hours of their journey, much to his chagrin.

* *

When the king gets married, it is a time filled with joy and celebration. A wife means a queen to keep him in check, and heirs on the way. Dimitri practically begs Ingrid to take the throne alongside him, as one of his best friends and most trusted confidants. 

She can become a knight and join Ashe once she has grown tired of royal life, he promises, but this will get her father off of her back and the kingdom off of his. If he spends a little too much time with Felix, well, they can’t say anything about it, because he has a wife. She agrees, reluctantly, as long as Ashe can serve as her personal knight. 

On the night before their wedding, Dimitri visits his Felix in his office, where he continues to work even past midnight. His secret lover grumbles at him, telling him that he should be sleeping, lest he makes a fool of himself at the royal wedding, and he sighs fondly, running his fingers through his dark blue locks. Dimitri leans down to kiss him on the forehead, and Felix’s noise of irritation worries him for a second before he is pulled down for a kiss on the lips as well, firm and loving and just so  _ right _ . 

His kiss with Ingrid the next day is friendly, almost, but nobody from the outside can tell. Their king is in love and the kingdom has a future, and that’s all that matters.

* *

Marriage is not for everyone. Ignatz and Flayn’s relationship remains a mystery to most- it is obviously romantic, yet free of the tension that fills the air of most couples. It is a quiet love, adoring. He worships her sweetly, not only as a goddess or a muse, but as the woman he loves. Their house is filled with dozens of things that remind each one of the other.

Marianne and Hilda cause the townsfolk to giggle and gossip with their constant dates to the market and to cafes, where Hilda adores spending money on her girlfriend, and Marianne adores lacing their fingers together to see the happy grin and warm blush on Hilda’s face. They are happy together no matter what, and the stares and whispers do little to sway their actions. If Marianne starts feeling shy after too much, though, Hilda simply whisks her away to a secluded area where they can love each other in comfort.

Leonie takes plenty of lovers over the course of her journey, paying off Jeralt’s immense debt, but never once does she settle down. Alois finds it funny, almost, for him to get calls from random women hitting on him when he already has a wife, and Leonie doesn’t say anything about it. 

Lysithea, cured from her troubles at long last, spends the rest of her life with Cyril. The two are never proved to be married in the history books, and they often spent time apart as Cyril worked for the Knights of Seiros and Lysithea baked with Raphael, but Byleth knew better. They always wore matching rings, and when Cyril came home, Lysithea always greeted him tearfully.

* *

Sylvain spends five more years getting to know Byleth all over again; this time as a friend. It turns out that they share a favorite color (navy blue), a stupid wish (to be able to wield two lances at once), and they both enjoy peach sorbet to the highest degree, fighting over the last bite with their spoons. They get several stares, but once someone recognizes them as the Margrave and the Archbishop, they look the other way.

He kisses a few more girls in this time, none of which really stick to him for longer than a couple of nights, which he expects. He even kisses Felix once, on a drunken night, which makes the man squawk and sputter and it makes Sylvain laugh and ache because he knows that any feelings that he held towards him several years ago won’t be fading too soon. Felix is in love with Dimitri, plain to see, and not in love with Sylvain. There is something there, perhaps, that could be touched on, if he felt like tugging at the heart of an old friend. But he has a goal, and a crush, and by god he’s going to do it  _ right _ .

When they fall in love, they are falling in love the way that only a stoic, well-meaning fighter and a defensive, warm-hearted lover can- slow and steady but passionately and feverently. Sparks fly, and Sylvain has never felt more alive.

When he asks again, she says yes.

The war is over. 

The future of Faerghus has never been brighter. 


End file.
